Page 44

For one mortifying second, silence blankets the room.

Levi clears his throat. “Well,” he says, reaching for his T-shirt, “I should go.”

“Thanks for your help,” I manage as he walks out.

Diane slowly turns to me, eyebrows raised. “Is that the guy from the wine bar?”

“Yep.”

“And he’s now your neighbor?”

“Unfortunately.”

She blinks several times. “That’s…suspicious. And he was half-naked. In your house.”

My cheeks burn. “Shirtless. He was bleeding. I changed his bandage.”

“Mhm.”

“And he was helping me with my homework.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

Diane folds her arms. “What exactly does it look like, then?”

I open my mouth. Then close it again.

Because, honestly, I’m not entirely sure myself. Diane’s eyebrows climb even higher.

I regroup quickly. “Trust me. There’s nothing going on between us. There never will be. It was just a bandage change and math.”

Diane gives me a long, knowing look that says she doesn’t believe a single word.

12

LEVI

It’s been nine days since we moved in, and the most action I’ve gotten from Carmen is a poke in the palm.

Jim was wrong. Letting her see me with Theo hasn’t changed a damn thing. I’ve been responsible. Nice, even. And nothing.

If anything, Theo’s the one she’s warming up to.

The kid thinks the sun shines out of her ass, and she gives him every reason to. She’s real good with him. Warm. Patient. She listens when he talks, even when he’s rambling nonsense, and somehow makes him feel like every word matters.

There’s a softness to her when he’s around.

Theo seems to like it.

Makes sense, I suppose. She’s not exactly unpleasant when she forgets she’s supposed to hate me.

The other night, when I helped her with that math homework, she got one right and gave me a real smile. Not the tight fuck-off one I usually get. This one lit up her whole face.

For a second, I forgot what the hell we were even doing.

And she told me she was impressed by me. Said I manage more with one wrecked arm than most guys do with two.